October 05, 2011

Scranton, Pennsylvania (The Weekly Vice) - Lori Gardner, 26, and Brian Sleboda, 31, were jailed Tuesday after they allegedly forced a 7-year-old boy to live in a bug infested basement and sleep inside a locked coffin.

According to Scranton Police, officers were dispatched to the couple's home after neighbors reported hearing a child's cries coming from the residence.

When officers arrived, they discovered a 7-year-old boy locked in the basement of a condemned home, wearing a diaper. The boy's parents were nowhere to be found, and the basement the boy was found in was pitch black, filled with flies, tics and other insects.

Although police found the boy on Sept. 26, the boy's parents did not turn themselves into police until Tuesday.

Investigators say the boy explained that his parents regularly locked him inside the darkened basement as punishment and forced him to sleep inside a locked, wooden coffin. The couple would then "pick up chains and drop them to scare (the boy)."

The boy also stated that he was sometimes locked inside the basement for entire days and was forced to wear a diaper because there was no working toilet in the basement.

Lori Gardner and Brian Sleboda both face felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful restraint.

Gardner reportedly denied that the boy was locked in their basement, but admitted that he was sometimes put there as "punishment."

Danny ViceThe Weekly Vice

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